Generals beat Acadiana in first game following all-star break

The former pitcher inside Victoria Generals manager Chris Clemons probably smiled a little. How could it not, when two of Clemons' charges combined to curtail the bats of the Acadiana Cane Cutters.

Bryce Zak and Tanner Green held the visitors to three hits as the Generals beat Acadiana 4-1 in a Texas Collegiate League game Tuesday night.

The win was the Generals eighth in their last 10 games. Clemons, a former major league pitcher, said quality starts and the team producing strings of good at-bats have been the reason for the uprising.

Zak had his best outing of the summer, allowing an earned run on three hits in seven innings. Green shut the door for his third straight scoreless appearance.

"I came into the game and tried the fill up the zone and pound a lot of strikes, put the ball and play and let my defense work behind me," Zak said. I knew they were going to make the plays."

Zak could barely contain a grin as he described his pitching performance. Typically, Zak's splitter is his fourth pitch, but he got comfortable with it Tuesday night and it became his best secondary pitch of his outing.

"I found it before the game,' Zak said of his splitter. "I was warming up and felt comfortable with it going in. I got in a situation, I shook off my catcher a whole bunch, and I was like 'Let's try it.' It broke really well and it worked. I had a lot of confidence in it and stuck with it."

Ladd Rhodes scored the only run of the night for the Cane Cutters in the sixth inning. Generals catcher Blue Hybner dropped a third strike, and fired to first to record the out. In the time he did that, Rhodes scampered home to tie the game 1-1.

The Generals scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to reestablish the lead.

Andrew Stumph drove in his sixth RBI of the season with an RBI single. Three batters later Trent Wagner was hit in the elbow with the bases loaded to contribute his second RBI of the night.

Green took over things from there. He didn't allow a hit over the final two innings to earn his fourth save of the season. Victoria improved to 2-1 in the second half and 21-10 overall, Acadiana fell to 16-17 overall.

"If the top of the order isn't doing well, the bottom of the order has picked them up," Clemons said. "Guys that were cold in the first have area really coming on for us."